Where Music Comes to Play

How to Disassemble the Creative Zen Vision: M

Pssst… Want to know what is inside the Creative Zen Vision:M? Here is your chance to take a look inside, and if you are daring enough, take it apart. Below I have provided step by step instructions on the teardown without breaking this portable wonder.

Disappointingly, there is not an extra three millimeters to squeeze in a bigger two platter 60GB or 80GB hard drive. This goes along with the earlier discovery of the larger docking station inserts. It is possible however to replace the 3.7v li-ion battery.

So grab a tiny screwdriver set (Phillips and flathead) and a pocket knife and you are ready to take your Zen Vision:M apart.

Step 1: Expose Screws

Set the on/off switch to the hold position. Stick a flathead screwdriver in and pry out the top closest to the screen as shown in the picture.

The bottom is a bit trickier. Stick a flathead screwdriver in the reset hole and pull up at an angle. It should pop out with a little bit of force.

That exposes four screws- two on the top and two on the bottom. Take them out.

Step 2: Pry off the Back

There are two clips in the center on the left and right sides holding the back plate on. Insert a knife into the side and gently pry it apart while working your way down. Pry it up about 2mm. Then do the same to the other side. You will now be able to pull the back off completely. You can easily remove the battery wire to separate the two halves.

Battery: The battery inside the Vision:M is made by SKC (LPCS285385) and is rated at 1250mAH at 3.7v and is 2.8 x 53 x 85 mm; taking up 25g of the ZVM’s total weight. [SKC]

Step 3: Remove the Hard Drive

The Toshiba is connected with a simple ribbon adapter. Pull it out. The connector can also be removed. It snaps right off of the board.

Stop.

Here you have exposed most of the “user serviceable” parts- the hard drive and battery. The next parts get to be a bit more delicate.

Step 4: Remove Main Board

The main board is attached with 6 screws- 4 in the corner and two in the center edges. Remove them.

Lift up the board, carefully. There are two connections that are attached to the controls and screen. One of them is connected to the controls (buttons and touchpad), and this connection will simply pop off. Disconnect it.

The LCD connection is more difficult and has a sticky masking over it. Peel it back and out of the way. This will expose the connector.

The connector is mechanical and has a hinge that you have to pry up. Take a flathead and gently pry from the edges minding the ribbon. Look at the picture and see how it flips up. Once it is back the whole way you can remove the ribbon cable.

Done… Almost

You can continue on further if you like. Just a few more screws and you can get to the buttons and touchpad. It is pretty straight forward. You can also remove the LCD screen for repair as well. However, you run the risk of getting dust behind the screen, so be sure if you do you are in a clean environment.

Conclusion

The Zen Vision:M is fairly user serviceable and can be taken apart without doing any damage. If you are still paranoid about scratching the plastic you can use some electrical tape in between the screw drive and plastic. If you notice in the pictures, parts of it is scratched on the bottom because I was prying at the wrong parts. But if you follow the above instructions you should be alright. And here is your disclaimer: You are voiding your warranty, so do this at your own risk.

Hrmm… I’d be interested in seeing some before and after pics of the part where he goes on to “Stick a flathead screwdriver in the reset hole and pull up at an angle.” I’d love to see what his reset hole looks like about now… If it’s anything like mine does after trying this, I know why he didn’t include it in the photos!! And, I still haven’t managed to get the bottom section off.

Ah! I feel like a fool! Why was I thinking this thing had a 2.5″ drive in it?! I guess I won’t be putting that 100GB in it afterall… Did manage to get the thing open though. That bit about the screw driver in the reset slot though… I don’t know about that method. I rigged up a ultra light clothes pin that I snipped the tip off of and then bent into a flattened “J” shape. Once I got it under it worked rather well to pull off the bottom slot. And when he says “some force” he means all that an more. That bottom slot is very hard to uncover!

As it appears at Toshiba, the largest drive that is offered in the 5.0mm 1.8″ HDD (the ZVM size) is the 30GB. However, a 40GB model fitting the specifications does appear at the Toshiba.jp site. Doesn’t look like it pays to upgrade yet.

EnzoTen: Ah, yes, I can see now some of the flaking and chipping from the tooling there. The picture was blurry so I did not look too closely, assuming it was a ‘before’ picture.Yeah, as I can tell, you had some trouble with that part as well. I found that taking a safety pin, clipping off the sharp point with a nail clipper, and then using a needle-nose pliers to bend the pin into a “J” shape works really well. Then, you just thread the J through into the reset hole and it will pull it off from the bottom/inside.

Rebecca: I would suggest the ZVM over the current gen of toshibas, this is beacuse the gigabeat REQUIRES that you install software! Also the gigabeat has whack controls and menu systems.Just my 2% of a dollar.

Does anyone know how to disassemble the Zen Sleek? I’m living in South America and one of the contacts in the headphone jack is bad…I only get mono sound/one side or the other…and yes, I’ve tried different headphones…all the same.

the zen sleeks headphone jack can be accesed by taking the screen protector off(a flat screwdriver from the top works best)and then the top of the sleek can be removed as there is only two clips on either side holding it in place. i found this out when i was removing dust from the screen.

Pete, how about checking Ebay to see if anyone is flogging a Vision M that isn’t working. Or put a wanted notice on Ebay? At prices like those charged by Creative, it’s only a matter of time before someone starts a breaking business, like they do with motorbikes

DOES ANYONE HAVE A CLUE HOW I CAN REPLACE THAT LIL RECTANGULAR PIECE THAT PLuGS IN THE BOTTOM OF MY ZEN VISION 30g. im stuck doing nothing .Without it THE THING IS ALMOST FORGOT ABOUT….I CANT FORGET THE THREE BILL$ IT COST ME…AND I LOSE A VITAL PART….CAN SOMEONE HELP THIS DELIMA????THANKS…RLAMB030@AOL.COM..or..IYASILK@AOL.COM

dood… there is somthing wrong with your cap lock key, you should get that checked out.Creative sell them on thier website for $9.99.ps. chill the fuck out. ask your mom or dad, im sure they will lend you the ten bucks.

I dropped my near brand new ZVM in water, do any of you think there is still hope? When I turn it on the screen goes past Creative sign and goes to the screen saying Zen against a black background but it won’t go any further, and the hard drive makes a clicking noise. I tried connecting it to the PC once and it did get recognised but the player itself won’t work. It’s been 5 days now, should I leave it to dry for longer, open it up or just give up hope and pay for a new one?

During disassembly, did you also realize that black number written on the ribbon adapter which connects the hdd with the pcb? As far as I can tell from your pictures, it says: M 0212 – on mine it says M 1002 (got my ZVM yesterday and couldn’t resist disassembling it – thx to your nice manual here . Now, does that number have any particular meaning? What do you guys think?

Dear Ray:Word of advice… Next time you drop some electronics in the water DO NOT even try to power it up without taking it apart and making sure all the parts are dry inside. Otherwise you will short several points inside that were never designed to talk with each other… that tends to “fry” electronics.Fred.

Hi, I have Creative Zen Vision M and yesterday somehow screen frozen, didn’t respond to anything. I tried to reset it but stupid me I tried microphone hole After couple of try I realized “real” reset hole but now I’m worried about microphone. I tested it and functioning well but What possibly caused my stupidity? Any idea…? Don’t laugh by the way…

volkan >> i cant help it, i have/had to laugh on this one. anyway, dont worry about it. nothing happened there, unless you were using a pin or a needle and poked it real hard. other than that, as long as your microphone is working you will be fine. if i am not wrong usually they put somekind of screen on the mic to reduce destortion, it works double as a protective grill too.

I have gone abroad and forgotten to take the docking connector, but I did bring along the ac adaptor. Is there anyway I can recharge the zen vision without the docking connector, or do you think an Ipod connector is compatible, as some people with me have ipods.thanks

Hey Melissa. The only way to salavge the headphone jack. Do you mean its all static. This is from dropping it. If this is happening it means that the clips inside of there have come lose. If you know someone who is good with electronics they could take this apart and soder the pieces back together and in place but if you dont know someone than you will have to send it in. Hope that helps

I am also intrested in finding out the model of the screen the Vision M uses, as mine has cracked and creative want $145AU to replace it. If i can’t find a replacement LCD then i have no other choice i guess..

is there any other way to use a different mic with the creative jen jukebox? the one creative sell is between £30 and £60 quid – bit of a rip off really. And does anyone know how the microphone works? is the software on the remote control it comes on? Creative seem to not only be stopping people plugging in other mics, but also using them.

How to get the bottom-side connector pinout to change iPod accesories so they can be used with the ZVM? i.e.: Any JBL speaker where the iPod is docked. I want to change a JBL pinout to use it with my ZVM.

Alice and Ray,I’m pretty active outdoors and either around water or dirt alot.I have an old (and I do mean OLD) Sony MiniDisk player that I use quite often.[Guys, don't bust my balls. I'm holding out for the RIGHT mp3 player to come along before I shell out $300 plus dollars.]Here is an easy and CHEAP way to protect your MP3 player.Get a quart sized Ziploc freezer bag, and snip off a small part of one of the bottom corners, just large enough to pass the plug end of your headphones thru.Thread the headphone plug thru, and pull the headphone cord thru the hole until you only have just the earbuds OUTSIDE of the bag. This makes it easier to get the rubber band over the cord AND the corner of the bag.Then take a new rubber band and wrap it as many times as you can around the cord AND the bag about 1 -2 inches above the cut end of the bag.(This helps seal the bag from water or dust getting thru the cut end.)Then pull the cord out thru the rubber band wrapped end of the bag, leaving just enough cord INSIDE the bag to reach the jack of your MP3 player.Put your MP3 player inside the bag and seal it up.If you plan on kyacking or other water intensive sports, double up and use two bags and make it more waterproof.If you are clumbsy or very energetic you might drop your player into the water so you will need some “flotation” for the whole thing.Do this by leaving some air in the bag or place some small pieces of foam or a few squares of bubblewrap inside the bag on each side of your device. (The bubblewrap technique has worked the best for me.)I’ve had my Sony Minidisc slip off the kyack and into the river and ended up towing it behind me floating it the water for a while. I only noticed it when I wanted to change tracks.I’ve used this sort of setup and have kept this crappy little Minidisc player going and going for over 5 years including a 12 months deployment in Afghanistan.Dropped out of a humvee on convoy in Afghanistan, soaked in an all day long heavy rain in Uzbekistan and towed behind a kyack in a midwestern river. Still running.FWIW, I saw numerous IPODs take a dump and go t!ts-up while on deployment. Not sure if it was the heat or the dust or both, but they often died.Check out this photo I took. It works.Held underwater for about 5 minutes. No water inside the bag.http://img375.imageshack.us/img375/7624/waterproofedsonysmall1pr.jpgRegards,~DA

On the hard drive upgrade front, it may be possible to just put some kind of rubber gasket between the edges of the case to make up the extra 3mm. (I’m guessing that future ZVMs with bigger drives will have a different case back. Good luck getting just that part for an upgrade job).80Gb 1.8″ drives are in the pipline!http://www.span.com/catalog/index.php?cPath=23_504_1801I just hope ZVMs don’t use a hard drive lock like Xboxes do.Duncan

I dropped my ZVM on the ground the other day. It has a small crack on the outside. It comes on and shows the “Vision: M” animation, but that’s as far as it goes. Is there somewhere I can send for repairs? Cost? or am I just better off buying another one?Danielsan2

Hi guys, I’m a bit disspointed at the moment. I had to dissasemble my unit to fix a problem that my friend caused which made the front of the screen protector pop out on one side. That was all well as good until it came to getting eveyrthing back toogether. Everything now works except for my screen. I get nothing through it. As far as I know I conneced the LCD connection back up properly by clamping it down ect. but it still didn’t work. After a while of repeating this process (since I assumed I musn’t have clamped the hinge properly ) the edge of both sides of the hinge broke off. Now I am left with a screen I cannot get to funtion. even when on and playing with the connection I cannot find a time when it turns on even for a short amount of time.Does anyone have any ideas?Thanks,Regards Brad

I’ve been an idiot and let the screen get scratched from just ordinary wear and tear. So I too would be very interested in whether it is possible replace the display cheaply. Is it possible just to replace the outer plastic covering?

To niftymatt:Warranty is for actual hardware faults not caused by normal wear and tear everyday use. So the answer would be no.To Feryu:I think getting scratch removal solution such as Applesauce is better than waiting for a new front plate. However don’t expect it to look brand new. This link might be useful to you in deciding whether to get one or not:http://members.iinet.net.au/~jayco/Regards,Steve

I just got a ZVM on the 24th and i had it happily sitting in my bookbag and some kid decides to step on my bag and BREAKS THE SCREEN… i know others have gotten a quote from Creative for the installation of a new screen but i dunno how they did it!! Can someone tell me how to get the quote?

Hi Avi,You have to contact customer services but all they will offer me is a replacement refurbed player (i.e. with someone elses scratches on it) for £100. They haven’t even offered to replace my screen. I only had the player 2 and a half months and i dont even know how it happened! There is not even a dent on the screen. If anyone can tell me how to get hold of just the part could you let me know?Thanks

hey my player broke just a few days ago an di am really pissed about it cause i had it for a month and it has stopped. i woke up one morning and it didnt work. it starts and get to the zen logo screen then goes black. i have done everything including all the recovery options but the player cant connect to the pc or do anything but go into recovery mode. i believe that it is sumthing to do with the hard disk, that it might be damaged or sumthin but i amnt sure. is there a way to find out? but the wierd thing is that it just happened the next morning when i had been using it fine the night before. i have contacted creative and they have told me to do all that i have done and nuthin. i have talked to best buy and they say that there is nuthin they can do but give me my money back and then i can throw the player out if i want.does anyone have any solutions to the problem or has this happened to anyone else? and what will i do with the broken player if it cant be fixed?please email with a solution if u get one – billsmain@gmail.comthankswillliam

hey my player broke just a few days ago an di am really pissed about it cause i had it for a month and it has stopped. i woke up one morning and it didnt work. it starts and get to the zen logo screen then goes black. i have done everything including all the recovery options but the player cant connect to the pc or do anything but go into recovery mode. i believe that it is sumthing to do with the hard disk, that it might be damaged or sumthin but i amnt sure. is there a way to find out? but the wierd thing is that it just happened the next morning when i had been using it fine the night before. i have contacted creative and they have told me to do all that i have done and nuthin. i have talked to best buy and they say that there is nuthin they can do but give me my money back and then i can throw the player out if i want.does anyone have any solutions to the problem or has this happened to anyone else? and what will i do with the broken player if it cant be fixed?please email with a solution if u get one – billsmain@gmail.comthankswillliam

Beware, Creative are not very cool about faults. My screen just went bad after a month, but they flat out refused to fix it. Best they offered was a refurbished player at about £100. They said i had dropped it (I hadn’t). Repair did not seem to be an option.Luckily, Amazon seem to know what customer service means, and replaced it for me.But it has made me extremely nervous about handling my player.. looks like they could be very fragile if a lot of people are having these problems.

I just deleted some important photos from my M Vision. Does anyone know if there is a way to recover deleted files?If I connect the vision to my pc wil it be treated as a usb drive and could i use recovery SW for usb drives?If it is not consideres a true USB drive, can I remove the HD and buy an external usb case and access it that way and then use recovery SW.Thanks

Caleb: it depends – an area of your player’s HD is considered as a USB drive, just plug it in and go into it via explorer. This area does not include music or video but it *may* include photos. Worth a go, anyway.

I also am experiencing a problem with my zen vision. I have had it for about a month and a half. Just yesterday I went to turn it on and it goes to a black screen after the logo screen and that is it. Doesn’t do anything, basically is a useless piece of crap. I had another creative zen from last year that gave me nothing but problems. I think I’m about done with creative. I’m spending hard earned money on stuff that won’t even last me more than a few months. And they don’t want to do anything about it. Then they want to push for the extended warranty, why because they know their product is crap and they know it is going to break soon. Luckily for me I purchased the product replacement plan from best buy and am going to exchange it for something that isn’t made by creative.

Hey i live in canada not britian as i assume most of u live in since your talkign in pounds, they want 260 canadian to replace my screen that i cracked while cutting my lawn, i am right pissed, does anyone know will an ipod video screen work, if not wear can i get a cheap screen, or does anyone have a ZVM that is screwed besides the screen? that i could buy the screen for? e-mail me at skierman@hotmail.com thanks!

so is the 60gb hd in the ipod a 2.5″? if it’s 1.8″ i wonder if it would be possible to replace the 30gb in the zen m with the 60gb from the ipod. don’t know how practical it would be but it would be interesting.

Hey Griffin!!! sorry but the screen transfer from an ipod to the zvm wont be too good of an idea eh… you will be downgrading to a crapier screen with a way less colour spectrum and i dont think anyone should open up their zvm unless it is completely stuffed… I read that if something on an mp3 player is stuffed it is always best to buy another one because if you got the screen replaced, imagine if the battery went next… you would be poor as a monkey after all of that… its always best to go buy another one instead to get a completely nice brand new model too… let me know…

im curious.. but does any1 know how to get rid of scratches.. i saw the applesauce solution.. did any1 try it and know if it works.. i have a deep scratch on my screen and want to know if i can get rid of it or get some kind of replacement case.. i would GREATLY appreciate it, thanks guys!

if the applesauce thing works.. how do u do it.. do u apply applesauce.. let it dry for a bit then wash it off.. or do u just clean it w/ a tissue and applesauce and eventually the marks will go away.. its funny how applesauce can cover scratches.. thats insane.. does it temporarily cover it or does it eventually wear out and the scratches come back..?

Ok, so i spilt whiskey on my ZV:M. Not a great idea, it’s not particularly watertight. I turned it off straight away and on again the next dayand all’s good – but there’s a stain on the screen – it looks like it’s between the backlight and the lcd display.Does anyone know if these are separate, is it worth pulling things out to try and wipe it down… or just live with it and put it down to a good night?

I had the Creative Zen Vision twice. I loved the player, but the screen kept breaking. I had it replaced the first time ($122 US) , and the second time I just sold it for scrap. Total ownage time for both: 4 monthes (total). Its just not worth it. I dont know why the screen kept breaking…

I used applesauce on my player, cant say it was extremely scratched to start with but it cleared it up really really well. Id reccommend using it, then putting a protector like http://www.bestskinsever.com (much cheaper than invisibleshield website and exactly the same) on it afterwards. If you do it properly you can hardly tell it has a protector on it. Havent noticed applesauce wearing out at all.

BATTERY. I know its been asked already, but anyone who know where ZVM replacement batteries may be purchased would be greatly appreciated instead of paying £100 to creative when it eventually starts to die

Does anyone have the problem with the screen? I have bought ZVM and always when i press PLAY button such a strange thing appears on the screen. It looks like too much pressure in the middle of the screen. What do you think? Is it possible to repair it with this ”service” manual? Thx a lot

Hey guys,This is for a different Creative Zen product, but it’s been about a year+ since I’ve bought my Creative Zen Touch 40G mp3 player, and the headphone jack seems to be messed up. I’m definite it’s the headphone jack too, because I tried several headphones and tested the headphones on different things like my computer as well.The problem seems to be that it only sends a mono signal, through the left earphone only. I’d like to hear some others’ advice about what to do with it: whether I should take it in to a repair shop, if there’s anywhere I can send it(the limited warranty is most likely over by now), or if there’s a chance for myself to service it. I have no clue how to fix it! Help!my e-mail is khsu89@gmail.comIf you decide to e-mail me, it would be extremely helpful if you titled it as “tips for your mp3 player” or “fixing your Zen Touch,” so as not to have me accidentally report it as spam.Thanks for the help! I’m looking forward to hearing responses!

Hi,I connected my Zen Vision M, to my laptop which was running on battery. The Zen Vision M displayed some songs, and immediately powered off. I am not able switch it back to on. I tried all possible ways, of resetting via pin hole multiple times, connecting to laptop, switching on etc..no results…my worry is I loaded it with 20 gb material, and I dont know how to retrieve it back..if the unit is gone bad.Please help..what steps should i need to take…

I had my creative zen touch for a while. Now when i press play it goes back a track. When i press the back button, it acts as the menu button. Its like my freakin keys were switched up. Is there a way to fix this prob?If anyone has any ideas, u can email me back at robinsonrenardo@hotmail.comI‘d really appreciate it. thx

Hi guys, kinda messed up here, I had to dissasemble my unit to fix a problem that my friend caused which made the front of the screen protector pop out on one side. That was all well as good until it came to getting everything back together. Everything now works except for the FM radio, it doesn’t appear in the menu.I also checkout the menu configuration and it doesn’t appear there either, i’ve upgrade the firmware and the same problem. Cretive told me i have to RMA it, but since i’ve voided the warranty that wouldn’t be a good option…any ideas plz?I’m also having trouble whit my media. The player freezes out of nothing when i’m playing music, and when i reset it, the screen goes black, and i have to enter the recovery mode, clean up the disk and reboot it.then it works for a while until the same thing happens again…any ideas??plz!?

The screen on my 2 mos old ZVM was broken in an accident and I have been trying for 3 days to contact Creative to find out about repair. Let this be a warning to all ZVM owners.Creative does not put its customer support phone numbers on their website, nor in the paper work that comes with the ZVM. You have to refer to your CD that came with the ZVM. Then you jump through the hoops of an automated phone system and when they finally speak to you, you will be told that they will not speak to you about getting your broken screen repaired unless you pay them $13 for a “tutoring session.” A tutoring session to assess whether a screen is broken is completely ridiculous. Tutoring sessions are only free if you have had your product for less than 60 days, which for me ran out on the 21st.If you are unwilling to pay $13 to talk to a person, you are referred to the Creative website — where the only option is to email customer support. When you email customer support, you are automatically sent an email directing you to their Customer Support webpage at Creative!!!! or you can reply to the message and further explain your problem.After calling and dealing with customer support, and explaing my complete frustration with Creative Customer Support, the rep. got into their email system and replied to my message (finally). I am now waiting for return merch authorization number and further instructions. I was also informed that it would cost $122 to replace the screen.My ipod mini never gave me these headaches!!

My Creative Zen Vision: M won’t let me play my songs anymore. Everytime I try to play a song, it gives me a message saying ‘playback error’ I’ve never had this before.Please help. I feel like my life is flashing before my eyes…thanks.

My Creative Zen Vision: M won’t let me play my songs anymore. Everytime I try to play a song, it gives me a message saying ‘playback error’ I’ve never had this before. Does anyone know how i can resolve this problem?Please help. I feel like my life is flashing before my eyes…thanks.

Mia, I aasume you see your playlists and albums tracks genres etc”as normal” on the screen?I would try:1 a reset2 download and install the latest firmware off the Creative website3 delete everything off the Vision M and start by loading a few Mp3 tracks known to be “not corrupt” (eg they play on your PC OK.) If these play then reload your music library. If these do not play and you have done 1 & 2 then I think you must call Creative

I seem to have cracked the screen of my creative zen vision M. It was in a bag I was travelling with. It works fine but I just cant see anything as the screen is just busted, the screen just looks like broken glass. I guess it is the LCD display which is broken? What should I do? will the warranty cover it or will I have to pay to have it repaired?Any ideas would be much appreciated – cn.hendrick@gmail.com

I got a Creatve Vision M a little over 2 weeks ago- then it started skipping, stopping and starting when I played music. The keys would also freeze as well. The funny thing was that when it started acting up like this- everytime I touched the player (any part of it) it would play- and when I took my finger off it, it would stop playing. So it seems the fault may be physical as opposed to the software? I dunno- I’m crap when it comes to things like this. Rang customer care and I was getting so frustrated with them, I just posted it back and demanded either money back (unlikely) or replacecment. It’s so frustrating cos I bought the older model Creative 3 weeks before and that also broke within 4 days. Such bad luck. Would it be anything to do with downloading music files? Anyone know, please mail me sonicfunk@yahoo.com

I have been researching the crap out of ZVM and came across this chat… great stuff here… now I don’t know whether I should even bother buying one… or any other one for that matter… if they break that quickly…only a few people have posted GOOD things about it… anyone else?

I am having some bothersome problems with my ZVM. I’ve had it for 5 months now, and ever since it took an accidental fatal fall on the kitchen floor, the screen is uplifted, the FM Radio doesnt not show up on the screen (kinda like Jeremy’s), whenever it is hit, it freezes up, the top two buttons are hard to press down on. Basically the only thing thats really functional in the actual media. Since the warranty is null and void, has anybody gotten any positive results from dissassembling their ZVM? Cuz I am desperate to getting it fixed. Creative didn’t even reply to my customer support request. HELP! thanx

I’m having the same problem as jack… what should we do?Is there hope?Jack on July 20, 2006 12:46 AMHi,I connected my Zen Vision M, to my laptop which was running on battery. The Zen Vision M displayed some songs, and immediately powered off. I am not able switch it back to on. I tried all possible ways, of resetting via pin hole multiple times, connecting to laptop, switching on etc..no results…my worry is I loaded it with 20 gb material, and I dont know how to retrieve it back..if the unit is gone bad.Please help..what steps should i need to take…

I’m having some problem with my ZVM. When I plug the headphones, I can’t hear the voice but the other sounds are ok. Some time later I realized that one of the clips inside the headphones socket is broken. There’s a way that I can fix it? Please tel me how to fix it and how to open the headphone entrance if it is necessary….

I have a Zen sleek Photo 20 gig and I love it. The problem I am having is the connective pins on the bottom. I cannot put any more music or data on it. I there a way to replace the part with th pins? or a way to fix it? My husband and I lead the music at the church and I have about 4,000 songs on it. The keep telling me if they fix it they are going to reformat it. I need the music but I cannot back it up without the connection to the computer. Recharge works fine. Everything else works fine. I use it all the time. I have a ton of hard to find music on there we use in church plus some data file with the acrual written music. Any body know how to get parts or fix it. A small plastic piece fell out when Diconnected it looks like it came of by the pins on the ZEN

I have a Zen Micro. The screen went blank, I still have the backlight but no Words. Is anyone else having this problem?. I have tried everything, literally to much to type here. Does anyone have a solution?

I have had a ZVM for a week and 2 days now and i love it but when i hookit up to the computer the ZVM explorer doesn’t recognize the player it did this with the one i got at Christmas too i don’t know what to do. I also wanted to say that if anyone knows where to find the skins or screen protectors for cheaper than Creative website please let me know.Me

Check out i-nique.com for loads of skins, invisible shields (these rock) and now a clear plastic shock resistant case. I ordered my case yesterday so I’ll see what it is like soon. To get your ZVM recognised by your computer can be a bit tricky, but you will have to select teh ZVM in your device manager and click to update the drivers, but always say that you want to choose the drivers to install. I t is a complete pain the the poo-tube, you need to assign the device as an MTP device. If I can get more info on how to do this I will.

Uternal remember when nothing is wrong no one is going to say anything but when there’s a serious issues people will scour the internet to report their problems with the issue. The ZVM is just fine, if it a serious issue there would be a recall. Take a look at the IPOD video forum and you’ll hear about problems, same with Toshiba, Samsung etc…as well as anything associated with technology.

tintagris & Jack,It happened to me last night! I turned it on, plugged it into the USB and it powered off and I have not been able to turn it back on. I just bought it last week and love it but this is very disappointing. I will take it back to Best Buy and ask them if there have been many returns, if not I will get a replacement but let you know how things hold up.Joe

anyone.i have just tried to plug my zen: vm into the dongle unit and it appears that i have 2/3 bent connectors inside the slot for the dongle on the main unit.is there a way i can repair it as i purchased it about 2 months ago now and dnt really want to send it off if i dnt have too

hey all,ive had my zen for 3months now and ive been quite pleased with it, however every now and again it just decides to die on me when i skip tracks. This can be solved by resetting the player, but its just a bit of a pain – and i dont like the idea of carrying a sewing kit around with me just for a pin to reset it with!anyway thats not my main problem. i woke up one day and the radio function had vanished….no radio option on the menu screen. this is probably the wierdest thing ive seen on a music player i was gobsmacked. I must admit i dont use the radio all that often, but id just like it to be there for when i fancy something different to listen to.if anyone could offer help as towards getting it back, or if someone has found themselves in the same position as me, it would be much appreciated.many thanks,monkey

There is no fix for the disappearing radio. It happened to me and quite a few others out there. It seems there is a flaw that creative knows about, your player is under warranty, you have to send it to them and they will either fix or replace it.I still have to send mine out, it takes 15 days, and I havent been willing to part with it yet.Clavin

Just about had enough of this product. First, the player wouldnt respond to any of the buttons so I had to wait until the battery ran out and reset everything. Then, started again and had to download a load of cds again only for it to ‘rebuild’ everytime I switched it on. Now, there is just the Zen logo and not responding again. I dare to use it more than twice a week for fear of another problem!!I would be grateful for any advice from any other sufferers.Wont be buying creative ever again.

The creative lab ZVM is a great player, once you figure it all out, dont get me wrong as you can see people have their complaints. However, just like with any new products that is going to happen. Creative has been working on the issues and has made the player better with several firmware upgrades.The best way I have found to use the ZVM is sync’ing it with windows media player 10, it is far better then using creatives software and far far better then using drag and drop. First set up your sync rules inside WMP10, I add all the music from my library. My library consists of several directories stored on different computers on my home network.There is rarely a problem with sync’ing, and the great thing about doing it this way is that it automatically transfers the album art to the appropriate song without putting it in the pictures directory. I was also able to take all of those 328 kbs songs and have them automatically transfer over at a bit rate I found to be suitable, this saved me a ton of space and allowed me to dump about 1000 more songs on my zen and still be left with 2gb of space for extras.Also, I have WMP watch my directories for new music, so when new music is added it is automatically updated to my library. When it is played it is automatically updated with the correct album info by WMP through an option that can be selected. Then when I plug my ZEN in it automatically transfers just the new songs to the ZVM.This is by far the best way to take care of sync’ing, I found all the other processes to be painfull at best.

ShortiI have had a ZVM for a week and 2 days now and i love it but when i hookit up to the computer the ZVM explorer doesn’t recognize the player it did this with the one i got at Christmas too i don’t know what to do. I also wanted to say that if anyone knows where to find the skins or screen protectors for cheaper than Creative website please let me know.Shorti, I have had my ZVM for more than 5 months now and it is in fine shape. The only problem I had was similar to yours. I have a copy of Windows XP, and I believe some subfolders are corrupted, because after 2 or so months my computer with all of my media files only recognized my AVM as an MTP player. Clavin, WMP and ZVM explorer wouldn’t recognize it, and Windows Explorer wouldn’t let me access any files on it. The only thing i could do was transfer all of my media to my other pc and load it from there. This option seems to work, but is a pain, seeing as i load all of my media onto one, then transfer it onto a portable hard drive, and add it to my ZVM after transferring it onto my other pc. (My second pc’s cd/dvd drive slot isn’t working)Hope this helps everyone with a sync problem.

sorry for the late reply, but thanks for the post clavin, at least i know where i stand with it all i dont think il send mine in though, im not desperate to get the radio back i just wondered where the heck it went!And Gareth, i understand your frustration as Zen’s can be a bit of a pain in the rear but i think when there working theyre fantastic players so dont give up the fight! hope clavins advice helped you too!thanks again,monkey

Did anyone ever answer the question about replacing the hard drive with an iPod g5 60 GB HDD or any other hard drive? Just curious, because I know the Creative Zen Vision:m 60 GB model is coming out soon, but if I can replace the hard drive with a higher capacity one, I can save a lot of money.

Work on reducing the KBS off the song, you need no more then 128kbs on your mp3, you wont notice the difference!As far as the bigger hard drive goes, I would wait on it and buy a new player as these are often flakey and delicate and you DONT want to void the warranty.

I was wondering about any alternatives to replace the LCD on my ZVM. It broke today, and i am unsuer how, but i really would rather not shell out 145 dollars for the creative technicians to replace it unless there is no other way to get a screen. I know people who will replace it for me, but all i need is the part. Any info will be a big help. You can post it here or email me at: ronald_mcdonald2222@yahoo.comThanyou,RyanPs i have had the player since may so the warrenty isnt worth a damn to me.

I cant tell u creative should make screens u can buy to replace the old ones and replament parts hmm if ur player is not recognized by ur computer or it may shut off ur ocmputer and u have to restart it make sure no other transferable portable device is conected to the computer make sure just the zen vison m is conected cuz what it will do is not recongize it and wont be able to know where the files are going

I FOUND A FIX! i was having the same hard drive problem like a couple of you. i opened it up, unplugges the hard drive and plugged it back in and it started up again. i don’t know if that was it, but i had tried everything else and this finnally worked. these damn things are tough…

Is there any way to splice into the mic so you can have; say, an 1/8 in. jack input instead of a mic? If this was the case, then I could plug my Zen vision M into my mixing board and have semi professional recordings. You might even be able to make a duel input, so that you can record both with the stock mic, and with the 1/8 in. jack. Just thought i’d throw that out there…

For those who have issues with the ZVM shitting off on u when u plug it in, i think i know y… Make sure next time u plugged in the usb cable and everything else right before putting ure ZVM in. If u don’t, it may cause a short-circuit in ure ZVM. If possible, try plug in ure mp3 while ure comp is turned off.

My touchpad on my ZVM seems slightly wobbly. It doesn’t seem very firm when I touch it.Do you guys have any suggestions how I would go about fixing this? Is there any easy way to simply pop off the faceplate so I can adjust it?

my damn vision:m just stright out froze i dropped it on its back like 10 inches off the ground while it was turnin on n it froze. its juss stuck there i reset it n it turned off n came back on but it didnt show the rebooting screen it juss got stuck on the logo screen…so i left it on n the batt. wasted n i recharged n i got it 2 work again but its really slow n it gets stuck alot and wen it gets stuck the only option is 2 do let it uncharge n recharge it again n its pissin me off.would there prob. b sumthin loose inside n would it b wise 4 me 2 dismantle it n check or is there another way?

Hey volkan, about the reset button mistake, I did the exact same thing only I pushed so hard that I pushed through something (the microphone?). I thought that the reset button was broke so I exchanged it and got a new one same thing happened on my new one so stupid me once again put the paperclip in the microphone slot. Shortly after I realized that the reset button was on the bottom and ‘boda bang, boda boom’ there you go, it works again.

hi all. i’ve had my zen vm for awhile now and now the battery wont charge. if i plug it in it will turn on after about 10mins of doing so and then if i unplug it it immediately dies. any help is appreciated.

Finally died on me!Hardware problem info shown constantly and cannot turn it off. Tried inserting pin and waiting for battery to run out(again and again) but decided enough is enough and contacted creative.200 pounds worth of flaws!

Does anyone know if its possible to remove the hard drive from my ZVM and use it with my pc???I stupidly removed my usb connection as it was docking and this has caused the whole thing to stop working. The screen just stays black and it won’t connect to a pc. I want to get all my music off it as its the only copy I have of it all

+ FOR THOSE LOOKING FOR SCREEN REPLACEMENTS +I just finished taking Zen Vision:M apart because I have cracked the screen.There are numbers on the LCD screen itself, maybe some of these numbers will help someone find a retailer for the screen replacements.These two are printed on the backV250QVF02S6516J12 USP5280371+++The last part of it is registered in the US Patent Office for all kinds of LCD backlights and such.GA060525 AO+++This one i have no clue, it looks like it has a date in it, 06/05/25, mines brand new so it could be made in ’06 or ’05.This one is engravedLTV2500V+++Dont know what it is, but its is printed on the ribbon cable also. On the ribbon cable it is followed by “_F02_V0.2″… im going to take apart the screen and… well break it more most likely.phr34kPlease email me or post if you have a site for the part!

Taking this apart is NOT a good idea. Most likely it will end up cracked. All you have to do is contact Creative tech support and send it to them and they WILL replace the battery for around 50.00 dollars. Not sure why everyone says these batteries can’t be replaced like the I-Pods. They CAN.

I regret buying a Jukebox Zen piece of crap. After only more than 3 years of service, the it won’t play anymore and the Singaporean customer service rep does not seem to understand English or is just plainly bulshitting me to hide the product’s flaws. I can’t retrieve the precious songs anymore.Crap product, even crapper customer service. Do not buy any of Creative’s piece of shit.You’ve been warned!

i agree with Mark, creative customer service is f*****n piece of shit. My ZVM is unable to start. It always stucks on boot screen ”ZEN”. I didnt drop,it I used it only for indoor use. Does anyone want screen? or part of my ZVM? I bough it 2 months ago and i am going to buy some flash player. NO MORE HDD

i maccidentally dropped mine and now everything takes forever and it gives me playback errors alot. all videos diappeared, even though they still show up on system information, and it doesn’t show any info on now playing screen, and worst of all, i cant retrieve any of the music stored on it. luckily i bought that 2 year warranty from best buy, so i dont have to deal w/ creative’s customer service.

Erik.. i’d love to buy your zen for parts.. what’s your offer for a price? please email me with details.. my zen only charges now.. the screen isn’t working.. i’ve called 5 times to get it fixed each time resulted in frustration. it quit working on my 3 months after i bought it… why should i pay $25 to get it fixed?!? they’re not gettin another red cent from me.

my zen felt of my hand…so it hit the ground…but the screen part (the top black one with the screen =P) is higher than the button pad…as you can see they are like two distinct plastic things…but when I try to push the screen part (the one that seems lifted in the middle junction) it just doesn’t get to place =Sdoes anyone tell me how to fix it? Thanks a lot

my Zen Vision M:vision is not being recognized by the PC. all the required configuration is present, like Xp, SP2 and other which they mention on their technical support site.Does anybody have any idea???Player is workiing properly, only PC is not recognizing the Device..

I wish someone could design a adapter to go from iPod’s 30 pin to the Vision M’s 30 pin so we could use iPod accessories with it. Charging would be out because of different voltage(I think).Could this be a possibility?

kishorethe only suggestion that i have is to check the drivers for your device.Right-click My Computer and choose PropertiesChoose the Hardware tabClick Device ManagerLook in there to see if your device is one of the exclamated ones(yellow exclamation point on it.)If so right-click and choose to update the driverLet it find the driver through the internet.(make sure you have internet cable,dsl, dial-up,ect.)That should fix it, if not then reply back and try to explain the problem again. So it wont dock right????

Battery Answer……To answer some of your questions about if you can use a battery with a diffrent mah..Such as substituting a 950maH for a 1750maH..The only things that need to be the same is the output voltage and amps…The maH is the amount of work the battery or cell can do, the bigger the maH the longer it will work…The circuit will only draw the current..Or “amps” it needs ..But the Voltage needs to be the correct amount…..So you will get longer life from a bigger maH…As for the bigger harddrive issue…As soon as Toshiba realeses that new drive at 8mm, I will get one and see if there isn’t a way to maybe fit it in there….I have not taken mine apart yet but I will…And as for the player itself…I am in love….This thing is everything I could want in a player…I also purchased the “Shure EG3″ noise canceling earbuds for it..They are 100 dollars US, but those coupled with the Vision M are earcandy….Ill post later on after I try the 80gig upgrade….it’s only 3 little mm’s Im sure I can wedge it under the hood….

I’ve owned my ZVM for around 6 months now. Never had a problem with it until about a month ago. I was driving and switching tracks when it froze on me. I tried to reset it thinking that would work. It powered up like normal but won’t get any further than 1/4 of the rebuilding process. Is there something I need to do to fix this? I’ve tried to leave it plugged in and have a constant source of power but it doesn’t go past 1/4 rebuilding. Any help would be appreciated, thanks.

i wish, i wish, i wish, i wish, i wish, i wish, i wish, i wish, i wish, i wish, i wish, i wish, i wish, i wish, i wish, i wish, i wish, i wish, i wish, i wish, i wish, i wish, i wish, i wish, i wish, i wish, i wish, i wish, i wish, i wish, i wish, i wish, i wish, i wish, i wish, i wish, i wish, i wish, i wish, i wish, i wish, i wish, i wish, i wish, i wish, i wish, i wish, i wish, i wish, i wish, i wish, i wish, i wish, i wish, i wish, i wish, i wish, i wish, i wish, i wish, i wish, i wish, i wish, i wish, i wish, i wish, i wish, i wish, i wish, i wish, i wish, i wish, i wish, i wish, i wish, i wish, i wish, i wish, i wish, i wish, i wish, i wish, i wish, i wish, i wish, i wish, i wish, i wish, i wish, i wish, i wish, i wish, i wish, i wish, i wish, i wish, i wish, i wish, i wish, i wish, i wish, i wish, i wish, i wish, i wish, i wish, i wish, i wish, i wish, i wish, i wish, i wish, i wish, i wish, i wish, i wish, i wish, i wish, i wish, i wish, i had a zen vision: m, it’s a wish

kishoreI had the same problem, I followed all procedures described in support but nothing worked. I finally reinstalled Windows XP from scrach and behold it is working now.In my case, the device manager did not show either an error or the MTP device.Hope this will help

on my Zen Vision M anything with a button except for the on button and the reset DOES NOT WORK…happens maybe twice a week…the lights dim, the buttons are all mixed up and do different commands, the touchpad does nothing when you touch it, and if it does, it ONLY turns down the volume?but when it does work fine, the rewind or fast forward wont work, it only back tracks or goes to the next track, therefore i dont have a FF or RW? any ideas? ive never dropped it either…E-mail me at kaminaricelica07@yahoo.com with any info, cause im getting pretty tired of these lame problems…thanks!

kris, db files fubar’d… from creative support website:It is recommended that you try these operations in the following sequence:1) reboot the player;2) clean up and reboot;3) format and reboot;4) and finally, reload the player’s firmware.CLEAN UP:It is the least destructive operation. It scans a player’s hard disk and removes any invalid links from the music library. It does not affect music files themselves. It is recommended that you perform “Clean Up” first before formatting or reloading the player’s firmware. It is recommended that you clean up regularly if you frequently transfer files between a PC and your player.FORMAT ALL:It is the same as a Windows format performed in a PC, and consequently all contents will be lost after a format.RELOAD FIRMWARE:Reloads the player’s firmware (Operating System). It will also format the player. It requires the player be connected to a PC.Select this option ONLY if you have access to a PC and firmware available to install.REBOOT:Reboots the player. You can reboot the player after performing a clean-up or format, or reboot it without performing neither of them-rgawron-

kevin who posted on september 7 that he found a fix…can you please email me on what was wrong with your player. Because Im hoping that you had the same problem with your player that Im having with mine.burleythunder21@yahoo.comIf anybody knows anyway that I can fix it than paying to get it fix please email me.

Hey guys, you might be able to find a bigger and more helpful audience at http://www.anythingbutipod.com/forums. now that we know how to take the vision apart, I was hoping someone would find a way to upgrade the battery and/or memory? Or like i said earlier, make an 1/8 in. jack for the mic. A couple of people have already been able to hack the dongle, so I assume there are people out there better equipped than me that can find a way to make the most out of the Zen! One thing I DID find out, was that if you buy your Zen from Circuit City, they have a warranty there that’s kind of pricey, but the store manager told me that the warranty will protect against any malfunction, regardless of if it’s your fault or not! so in other words according the the manager, i could walk out of the store and throw my zen against the pavement and take it back and they will replace it! so that gives me the freedom to do some hacking if I want!

hey guys, who wants NEW zen vision bought in UK. I came home and it always freezes at boot screen. I can sell it for 35-40$, screen is OK, battery is 2 moths old. only HDD seems to be dead. I can put it on ebay and sell it to you if you are interested. 11vajko11@azet.skpictures available on request

I was wondering if anyone knows the part number for the battery connector (the yellowish plastic piece that connects the battery to the board). The solder on mine broke, and I wanted to replace the part. If anyone knows, please email me at loiteringfool@gmail.com.PS. For any of you taking apart your Zen, be careful with this connector, it’s incredibly easy to break the solder.

I was wondering if anyone knows the part number for the battery connector (the yellowish plastic piece that connects the battery to the board). The solder on mine broke, and I wanted to replace the part. If anyone knows, please email me at loiteringfool@gmail.com.PS. For any of you taking apart your Zen, be careful with this connector, it’s incredibly easy to break the solder.

Hello everyone, my ZVM suffered from the same mysterious implosion a few days ago, and to my dismay, cracked LCD screens aren’t covered under the warranty. There’s no way I’m forking out $279 for a replacement, so does anyone know where I can get an LCD screen that’s compatible with the ZVM?If anyone knows, please drop me an email at rcholee@gmail.com.Thanks in advance then!

Just a heads up. I made the mistake of purchasing a replacement HD, the Toshiba one above, before opening my ZenVM. Turns out at some point in time Creative used Hitachi 30G drives in production for a time. The ribbon cable attachment for the Hitachi is very different from the Toshiba cable attachment. They are NOT interchangeable. Make sure you open your ZVM and see exactly what parts you have and get their proper equivalent. It’ll save you time and money. As for me, I learned my lesson the hard way. Now I still have a broken Zen, and a 30G slim HD with no home.

my screen is flickering. If I turn the brightness way down it does not look as bad. Do you think that is the backlight, the lcd image looks fine. where do I find the backlight is that easy to replace and easy to buy.thanks,

I have a 30GB Zen vision M and I opened it up and its hard drive is a hitachi travelstar one. I want to upgrade the hard drive to something bigger, but I’m worried that if I get like a toshiba 1.8″ hard drive, that the connector (from the hard drive to the motherboard) wont be correct. I can’t seem to find a place to buy a toshiba hard drive that comes with the connector. Can someone help me?

I noticed while shopping today that both the creative zen vision M and the creative zen 4 gig have a 2.5″ screen. Does this mean that the screens are interchageable? Has anyone figured it out? Also a way to open the 4 gig model without damaging it?

i have a zen vision: m 30gband i bought it off my friend.and he didnt have the instalation disk, but i got a usb cord for it..anywaysits not recognized on the computer and i can get songs on it or anything =[please email me if you can help me out

I would like to thank you Grahm Skee your instructions on how to disassemble the zen vision m was a life saver to my baby as myu warranty was out of time as i had dropped it an the hard drive became unplugged and was not reading and your advice really was smack on the nose thank you !As we all know this little gem is a more superior player compared to the cr-apple i-pod

when i first got my creative, it would have trouble every now and then with turning on and off…sometimes it would turn on, sometimes it wouldnt…and blue light up top would stay on sometimes even though i turned it off….i’d press the reset button, and all of a sudden it would start working again….now the reset button won’t even turn it on…when i plugg it into computer, the blue light just blinks up top…does anyone know what’s wrong with my player???

when i first got my creative, it would have trouble every now and then with turning on and off…sometimes it would turn on, sometimes it wouldnt…and blue light up top would stay on sometimes even though i turned it off….i’d press the reset button, and all of a sudden it would start working again….now the reset button won’t even turn it on…when i plugg it into computer, the blue light just blinks up top…does anyone know what’s wrong with my player???

omg thank u so much for figuring out how 2 take this apart. my touchpad stopped working so i took it apart 2 see if that’s the problem… well i still dont know cause i just now took it apart (it would’ve been nice 2 have instructions for putting it back together lol) neway thanks again : )

omg thank u so much for figuring out how 2 take this apart. my touchpad stopped working so i took it apart 2 see if that’s the problem… well i still dont know cause i just now took it apart (it would’ve been nice 2 have instructions for putting it back together lol) neway thanks again

Hi,today my zen vision m (30 gb) got between a chair, it is totally broken. I took it apart as told above. At first sight, that battery is still ok, the player still worked, but the buttons and screen are broken, also hdd.basicly, if anybody wants the battery, the mainboard, the outerscreen (inner is broken), outside of the buttons…Just mail me at rooversjules@hotmail.com , i’ll see what i can do for you.I’ll buy another one anyway.J

hi all .jules i want just to ask . does the serial number appear on any of the hardware . i have lost my serial number S/N and i dont want to disassemble my player incase if it doesnot appear on the boardplease any one can help espacially jules because u have the parts

the program always sayyour player is not connectand my creative already puted in my copmuter and hardware is ok computer saw the hardwareand remove all videos and some albums its self any ways to conect with coputer coz icant bring and transfer any thing from comuter to creative

the program always sayyour player is not connectand my creative already puted in my copmuter and hardware is ok computer saw the hardwareand remove all videos and some albums its self any ways to conect with coputer coz icant bring and transfer any thing from comuter to creative

the program always sayyour player is not connectand my creative already puted in my copmuter and hardware is ok computer saw the hardwareand remove all videos and some albums its self any ways to conect with coputer coz icant bring and transfer any thing from comuter to creative

Could anyone tell me what exactly is involved in replacing the hard drive? I didn’t drop it or anything, I just went running with it and now it says I have a hard disk error. How do I reinstall the firmware? Thanks.

Hi, my creative zen was recharging on my laptop, and next morning when i took it off it had a white schreen and didnt react to any buttons, i then reset the player and it still had the white schreen, however when i pushed buttons i was able to play music. I’ve googled for answers to fix it but haven’t found any, someone have them?

Hi, my creative zen was recharging on my laptop, and next morning when i took it off it had a white schreen and didnt react to any buttons, i then reset the player and it still had the white schreen, however when i pushed buttons i was able to play music. I’ve googled for answers to fix it but haven’t found any, someone have them?

enzoten,you seem to know a fair amount about the player. i’ve had mine for a while now, over a year, and therefore long enough for creative customer support to shun me. so the other day it started to act up and then gave me the firmware error screen. now i realize that i could have tried recovery mode after reading up on the subject. however,shortly after, it does not turn on, the top little blue light seems to be the only vital sign still visible. when i connect it to my pc it blinks blue at me but does not turn on and is not recognized. i am rather afraid that it may have reached its demise. any help would be appreciated, thanks

I’m having the same trouble…I recharged it and the next morning all I got was a blank screen. It will show the “Creative” screen, then the “Zen” screen, but then…nothing. I’ve reset, recharged, and reset and nothing. Any suggestions?

Hi i was wondering if you can get a new mainboard as the screen connector hinge has broken on mine, when i dropped it. The pis hanve also now bend as i was being stupid and didnt reaslise the hinge wasnt there Thanks

Thank’s a lot. My Vision:M was totally screwed up. It didn’t work at all. I couldn’t turn it on and it didn’t responded at all when i plugged it in the computer. Then i just opened it up, and saw this little contact in the bottom that goes in to the batterycharger plug-in. That one was loose, so i just pressed it in again, then just put the whole thing together again, and then it worked totally fine. wohoo

This article is great, I opened up my Vision without a problem. Now I just need to know what I have to do to solve my problem.About a week ago, my player froze up and there was nothing I could do to unfreeze it, so I let the battery die. When I went to charge it back up, the power button just keeps blinking and blinking and it never gets a charge. The unit won’t turn on or be recognized by any computers to update the firmware.I gather from reading some of these message boards that this is a common problem, so I was wondering if anyone knew the solution. I don’t want to order a new battery and replace it just to find out the hard drive is shot. I already purchased a wall charger because some people mentioned that the wall charger works when the usb cord fails to charge the battery. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks. drgonzo235@yahoo.com

Hi, the headphone jack of Zen M got broken. Thanks to the instructions here I disassembled the device and dismounted the jack. Any idea where I could get new one (Creative service did not got too excited about sending one)?Anyway I have planned to cut a normal stereo cable and solder wires so that the jack will reside outside of the device. Yes, I will loose the video connection unless I’ll find a cable with 4 wires/jack.Still the big question now is that which pads of the old connector are left, right and video? (the ground I was able to figure out by myself but stupid enough I did not pay attention to the signals while removing the connector).Help appreciated.-Kimmo

Hi,my son has a vision:m with a 30 G drive. Unfortunately, one of his friends dropped it, and all it does now upon switching it on is a short flash of the LED, the display remains dark, no function. Looking for a repair facility, I stumbled over this page. The symptoms look the same like for ebloom (April 16, 2008, see above). So, is it advisable to open the player to look for loose parts? How sensitive is the hard drive for a shock damage? The player fell from about 90 cm (3 feet) on carpet (not the soft variety).What are typical damages after such events?Thanks for your comments in advance!(The friend is insured, but if it’s a simple matter to fix it, I’d prefer to do it myself)Cheers,U.

Hi,I have the Zen Vision M 30gbA few months ago it stuck on the welcome screen and after postings on this site I was able to get it into recovery mode and used the Clean Up option which solved the problem. However, the player was very slow to start and turn off after that procedure, usually taking 10 or 15 mins to shut down. It also went into Re-build mode quite often.I decided to use the recovery mode again and reload a new version of the Firmware. Mine is v0.0.16 and the new version is 1 62 02. Each time I tried to reload it I got the message “Reload Failed”.I then downloaded the Recovery Tool but each time I click on the icon it just installs itself on my computer and doesn’t seem to do anything else.All data is now deleted from my player but I do have it backed up on my hard drive. All I get when I switch on is the recovery mode screen.The player is still recognised by my computer.Any suggestions?Regards,Jeff

my Zen Vision:M 30 GB is not opening up at all and I have the only charging way through the XP System and I don’t know, my Creative player is now working or died….Any one know, what could be the reason?! Is this model battery failure issue?!-Mark

My puppy bit my zen and broke the screen. I sent it to ZenRepair and they fixed it in just a few days. If you need a repair on your Zen, check out http://www.zenrepair.com for an estimate. They were great!

Charlemagne -Put the players “on” switch to the “on” position, and while holding it there, stick a pin in the reset hole. This will give you a 3 options, one of which is format.The only thing that won’t go away is your background image.

My missus put my zen through a full wash with my sorts and t shirts. Was basically wrecked, wouldn’t turn on and the screen was full of water.I took it apart and put it in the oven on a really low heat for a couple hours to dry it out and it now works perfectly.Long live the zen!!!!!

I have a 30gb zen m, and recently after the newest firmware update, my power button is acting stoooopid! I have to hold it way longer to power on/off, and sometimes it just advances songs. Is there a way to recover to an older firmware? I am backing the media up now seeing as how it is 2gb shy of being full…I love this thing and have had it 2 years without a single issue…

New batteries can be ordered for as low as $15 w/shipping online in the US. Just Google p/n “DAA-BA0004″ to find the best price for a 3.7 V 2000 mAh Silver Li-Polymer battery. The orginal is 2000 mAh but I saw some 1700 mAh and 2200 mAh. I am not sure if the 1700 mAh version gives less battery time or if the 2200 mAh version would give more playtime…

Hello,Great Thread..My display is flickering … VERTICAL LINES of extra brightness appear on the screen .. Everything else is working just great.. !Turned it ON after three months and saw this ..Any clues to what went wrong..??Also I tried to do a lill service but no help ..Thankzz

TWO BATTERIES ARE BETTER THAN ONESpeaking of taking this thing apart the other day, i was fooling around and managed to get the zvm to run off of two batteries at once. Ie. longer battery life. There is three wires on the zvm battery. red and black are your main voltage, the middle one is white I’m assuming that is more of a control for the battery probably used when charging.to do so keep the connector on your original battery and cut off the connector from your secondary battery. Use a sharp knife to take off the wire casing on the original batterys wires (black and red but not the white) and solder the reds and blacks together, make sure it is disconnect from the board. when this is done cover the solder joints up with electrical tape or whatever. now your ready to go you have your main battery with two other blakc and red wires coming off it and one original white. Now you should be left with one white wire just tape it up and tuck it up somewhere you won’t use this wire. charge up your zen and your ready to go!Obviously your going to have to tape your zen shut because it won’t close, or you can do what i did, drill a hole in the bottom of the casing and have the battery on the outside with a protective plate coving it.Sorry for the random post i just had to share this with everyone!

Hi,the battery of my Zen Vision:M is completely discharged.FM Radio was running and I forgot to turn off the player.I tried to charge, but player won’t come alive.The only vital sign is the blue power light flashing.Screen is black and no loading symbol shows up.Any chance, to ‘refresh’ the battery without disassambling the player?Thanks for advice

Hey I have the 60g vision m and it just wont sync anymore. After i safely removed it from my sync attempt all of my music is gone and it wont sync still. But when i connect it to the computer it still has all the files on there, it just wont let me play them. Everything else still works, i tried running a clean up and it wont complete it. Can anyone please please help?

Hi all, Any ideas on my problem? Zen won’t switch on and gets uncomfortably hot, dis-assembled and saved music library, but no idea why its shot, no sign’s of black on the mother board, and was working fine before problem. any ideas where to buy a motherboard, apart from ebay?

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Cowon J3

The J3 is a fantastic PMP with a very nice AMOLED screen and tons of features. It sports Cowon's trademark BBE sound enhancements, and offers a customizable user interface with strong support by our user community. You can usually find it at Amazon for the best price - and don't forget to check out our review.

Microsoft Zune HD

Sure, many of us are not big fans of the walled garden, but there are a lot of great things going on with the Zune: sturdy hardware, ultra easy to use user interface, and a media player that is worthy of Editor’s Choice. You can check out our Zune HD review or stop by our Zune forums for the latest info and gossip.

Phonak Audéo PFE

Phonak Audéo PFE offer outstanding clarity and precision; natural, dynamic mids and treble, and decent bass for a single armature in-ear phone. They handle dense, complex music very well. The PFE work well with most acoustic and some electronic music genres, but bassheads might have to look at other alternatives. They're great for sports as well, since they fit very securely. Check out our review.

Hippo VB

The Hippo VB (Variable Bass) offers a serious subwoofer for on the go, right in your head. They don’t just deliver generous quantities of punchy, textured bass, but good audio quality over the whole frequency range with decent clarity and exceptional soundstage. Exchangeable bass ports let you customize their sound to your liking. Read our in-depth Hippo VB review.

Soundmagic E10 / E30

The Soundmagic E10 and E30 are basically right in the middle between the Phonak PFE and Hippo VB - not too analytical sounding, not too bass heavy. The E10 provide a bit more bass, the E30 a bit more clarity. Both come with a very fair price tag considering the sound quality they deliver - a great choice for the audio aficionado on a budget. Read our E10 and E30 reviews for more info.